ianGT156
Member
I've now had my Mercury Grey 156 GT for 15 days.
My commute is a 41 mile round trip, 96% of it on the A68 in County Durham.
I've done 527 miles so far. Apart from the commute they have mostly been on Durham Dales roads, twisty, up and down a lot and loved by the fair weather two wheelers at weekends.
I've slowed down a bit since my previous Hyundai i10 1.2, rather bizarrely perhaps. I thrashed the arse off that little car, it responded so well at 4500-5500 rpm. I averaged about 40 mpg in it. I wore out it's front tyres every 7000 miles or so. It gripped well and had such great feedback through the steering that I would slide it, in a controlled manner, in and out of bends all the time.
Overtaking though was hard work, very hard work. Building up speed all the time prior to the overtake and making a last split second yes/no decision. I pissed off a lot of people when they saw a Dinky car overtaking them. Some of course had to overtake me back and slow down in front of me. 'kin tossers.
I'm of the age where I was beginning to think that this could be the last chance to buy a decent nice fast car before I be sensible again and drive something cheap 'n' cheerful to reflect my diminished income.
In 1985 I bought a brand new 1.6 205 GTi, in graphite, C197XVR. It was before the 1.9 was introduced. Us early adopters used to flash headlights at each other. In 1986 I got nicked for speeding on the A74 in Scotland when it was just a dual carriageway. I was clocked at 111 mph by a Police Granada that took 8 miles to catch up with me. I didn't know it was there, it was a Coach driver doing about 50 in front in the outside lane that slowed me down. I was banned for three months by a Sheriff who clearly hated Englishmen, nothing new there then. That Scottish legal system is perverse, one man's decision. At least in 1997 it took three English magistrates to ban me for two weeks for doing 103 in Norfolk, in a Citroen Xantia TD. My licence has now been clean for twenty years.
Things are a bit different for now. I'm just checking my MPG and averaging 38/40 mpg at the moment, I'll probably end up averaging about 35. At the moment I only overtake when I get pissed off at snails, trucks and two/three car nose-to-tail convoys. I enjoy my commute and want the journey to last. I'd love an excuse to keep on driving all the way to Edinburgh.
I must now be exuding pheromones or something because I seem to be attracting drivers who feel the need to catch up with me and want to race. Even a bloke at work who normally does 60 on a dual carriageway in his Passat decided he had to overtake me at 90+. He didn't know it was me and my new car. He never used to bother when I passed him in the i10.
Well back to the RCZ. I'm very impatient and bought the first one I saw. I really wanted a 200 but the 156 was closer to home. I persuaded the Mrs and Gizmo the Border Terrier to come along to look at them. I think I must have been an unusual test driver, taking the wife and a dog along, just the three of us. The salesman said, "be back in 15 minutes or so, take your time". Of course, comparing 156bhp to the 82ish bhp of the i10 was stupid but I fell for it. Was it really worth driving another 15 miles to look at the Blue 200? I told myself that the grey was more subtle than the blue and would attract less attention from the low life and paint scratchers. I love that blue though.
It was this pic on honestjohn.co.uk that I showed to the wife and said, "this is my midlife crisis car". Bullshit really because i'd have to live to 112 to be midlife and I ain't got no crisis either, lol.
Well back to what I first meant to say ... new experiences. It's a long time since the 205 and the Citroen BX GTi that I also had.
I go upstairs when I get home just to look out of the window to stare and grin at my gorgeous car. She looks so much more beautiful than 99.9% of other cars. In this part of the world she is very rare too. I've seen just two others in fifteen days.
"Ooooh look, an Audi, how amazing is that?" Not at all. As common as squashed flies on my bonnet. Unlike the flies though, they all look the same, A1/2/3/4/6/8 coming towards you and they are nearly always black. I must see upwards of 100 per day on my commute. I never even considered buying such a commoner's car. Audis make BMWs look rare.
Some seventeen years ago I made a career decision to get a job I enjoyed and to forget how much it paid. I'd had sixteen years in IT contracting and was bored with it. Currently I work in private healthcare, I'm a support worker. I earn approximately 25% of what I earned in 1999. But ... I can still afford an RCZ ;O)
Desires: Remap. A decent Karcher.
These have been some of the reactions of my colleagues on seeing the car ..
"Whoever drives that can't afford to work here"
"Ian, you'll have to do loads of overtime to pay for that car" - the lady who does the rotas
"Wow!" - neighbour
"Ian, is that your snazzy car out there?"
"It's a great looking car. What is it?"
"Is that your midlife crisis car?" - answer "yes", see above
"It looks really nice" - I reply, "thanks" or "I think so too"
"What size engine has it got?"
"Is that Audi yours?" - gggrrrrrrrr
"It's a bit different to your last car"
"How could you afford that?" - nurse who paid £15k for a GS3, humble spec
"It looks nice mind"
Interestingly, not a single person has asked me what she cost - £9960, 156 GT, 2013, 13 plate, 32,220 miles. An average price I'd say. It's not a secret, neither is my plate in waiting, RCZ 2820, an owl perhaps?
I've yet to name her. My totally disrespectful wife, who does however love the car too, suggested "Arsey". I grinned but couldn't possibly agree.
If you got this far, you're very waffle tolerant. thanks for reading ;O)
Ian :beer:
edited. I wrote the wrong price. It was £9960, not £10960.
My commute is a 41 mile round trip, 96% of it on the A68 in County Durham.
I've done 527 miles so far. Apart from the commute they have mostly been on Durham Dales roads, twisty, up and down a lot and loved by the fair weather two wheelers at weekends.
I've slowed down a bit since my previous Hyundai i10 1.2, rather bizarrely perhaps. I thrashed the arse off that little car, it responded so well at 4500-5500 rpm. I averaged about 40 mpg in it. I wore out it's front tyres every 7000 miles or so. It gripped well and had such great feedback through the steering that I would slide it, in a controlled manner, in and out of bends all the time.
Overtaking though was hard work, very hard work. Building up speed all the time prior to the overtake and making a last split second yes/no decision. I pissed off a lot of people when they saw a Dinky car overtaking them. Some of course had to overtake me back and slow down in front of me. 'kin tossers.
I'm of the age where I was beginning to think that this could be the last chance to buy a decent nice fast car before I be sensible again and drive something cheap 'n' cheerful to reflect my diminished income.
In 1985 I bought a brand new 1.6 205 GTi, in graphite, C197XVR. It was before the 1.9 was introduced. Us early adopters used to flash headlights at each other. In 1986 I got nicked for speeding on the A74 in Scotland when it was just a dual carriageway. I was clocked at 111 mph by a Police Granada that took 8 miles to catch up with me. I didn't know it was there, it was a Coach driver doing about 50 in front in the outside lane that slowed me down. I was banned for three months by a Sheriff who clearly hated Englishmen, nothing new there then. That Scottish legal system is perverse, one man's decision. At least in 1997 it took three English magistrates to ban me for two weeks for doing 103 in Norfolk, in a Citroen Xantia TD. My licence has now been clean for twenty years.
Things are a bit different for now. I'm just checking my MPG and averaging 38/40 mpg at the moment, I'll probably end up averaging about 35. At the moment I only overtake when I get pissed off at snails, trucks and two/three car nose-to-tail convoys. I enjoy my commute and want the journey to last. I'd love an excuse to keep on driving all the way to Edinburgh.
I must now be exuding pheromones or something because I seem to be attracting drivers who feel the need to catch up with me and want to race. Even a bloke at work who normally does 60 on a dual carriageway in his Passat decided he had to overtake me at 90+. He didn't know it was me and my new car. He never used to bother when I passed him in the i10.
Well back to the RCZ. I'm very impatient and bought the first one I saw. I really wanted a 200 but the 156 was closer to home. I persuaded the Mrs and Gizmo the Border Terrier to come along to look at them. I think I must have been an unusual test driver, taking the wife and a dog along, just the three of us. The salesman said, "be back in 15 minutes or so, take your time". Of course, comparing 156bhp to the 82ish bhp of the i10 was stupid but I fell for it. Was it really worth driving another 15 miles to look at the Blue 200? I told myself that the grey was more subtle than the blue and would attract less attention from the low life and paint scratchers. I love that blue though.
It was this pic on honestjohn.co.uk that I showed to the wife and said, "this is my midlife crisis car". Bullshit really because i'd have to live to 112 to be midlife and I ain't got no crisis either, lol.
Well back to what I first meant to say ... new experiences. It's a long time since the 205 and the Citroen BX GTi that I also had.
I go upstairs when I get home just to look out of the window to stare and grin at my gorgeous car. She looks so much more beautiful than 99.9% of other cars. In this part of the world she is very rare too. I've seen just two others in fifteen days.
"Ooooh look, an Audi, how amazing is that?" Not at all. As common as squashed flies on my bonnet. Unlike the flies though, they all look the same, A1/2/3/4/6/8 coming towards you and they are nearly always black. I must see upwards of 100 per day on my commute. I never even considered buying such a commoner's car. Audis make BMWs look rare.
Some seventeen years ago I made a career decision to get a job I enjoyed and to forget how much it paid. I'd had sixteen years in IT contracting and was bored with it. Currently I work in private healthcare, I'm a support worker. I earn approximately 25% of what I earned in 1999. But ... I can still afford an RCZ ;O)
Desires: Remap. A decent Karcher.
These have been some of the reactions of my colleagues on seeing the car ..
"Whoever drives that can't afford to work here"
"Ian, you'll have to do loads of overtime to pay for that car" - the lady who does the rotas
"Wow!" - neighbour
"Ian, is that your snazzy car out there?"
"It's a great looking car. What is it?"
"Is that your midlife crisis car?" - answer "yes", see above
"It looks really nice" - I reply, "thanks" or "I think so too"
"What size engine has it got?"
"Is that Audi yours?" - gggrrrrrrrr
"It's a bit different to your last car"
"How could you afford that?" - nurse who paid £15k for a GS3, humble spec
"It looks nice mind"
Interestingly, not a single person has asked me what she cost - £9960, 156 GT, 2013, 13 plate, 32,220 miles. An average price I'd say. It's not a secret, neither is my plate in waiting, RCZ 2820, an owl perhaps?
I've yet to name her. My totally disrespectful wife, who does however love the car too, suggested "Arsey". I grinned but couldn't possibly agree.
If you got this far, you're very waffle tolerant. thanks for reading ;O)
Ian :beer:
edited. I wrote the wrong price. It was £9960, not £10960.
Attachments
-
(c) honestjohn.jpg -
DSCF5559_edited-compressed.jpg
